The Outsiders
by SixPerfections
Summary: Faith returns to Cleveland 2 1/2 years after having left on bad terms with Buffy. She is no longer the sad loner everyone remembers but has gathered a group of misfits and outcasts of her own. Who knows how Buffy and the scoobs will react to this dangerous new group in the backyard. Will they protect the Hellmouth or with they destroy each other? AU. B/F. Epic Length. Lots of fun.
1. Going Back

**A/N: **

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except my own OC's. I sure hope that's not exactly a shock.

**Setting: **3 years post Chosen and about 2 ½ years after the end of Angel. Does not take into account the comics (knowledge of season 7 of BtvS and season 5 of Angel are helpful but not necessary)

**Rating: **M for violence, language and sexuality.

**Pairings: **Eventual Buffy/Faith (wont happen for a long time) and other pairings as well. Story will have both het and femslash. If this bothers you please do not read.

**Summary:** 3 years post chosen the activated slayers quickly lose their powers. This forces Faith to return to Cleveland two and a half years after having left on bad terms. She's no longer alone however and has her own loyal team of misfits that she brings back with her. In spite of all their differences the two teams must learn to work together to protect the Hellmouth and the world.

000B&FvS000

"Is it really true?" asked Buffy anxiously, wringing her hands unconsciously.

Willow nodded sadly, worry clear on her face. "I'm sorry Buffy. The spell was unprecedented. There was always some degree of uncertainty that went with it. But I didn't think this would happen."

They were in Buffy's 'office' in their Cleveland headquarters. It was a room with a desk that she avoided as much as possible, but it afforded them privacy. "It's not your fault Wills. I don't suppose there's a way to um... fix it? Or do the spell over again?" Buffy asked hopefully.

Willow shook her head. "No there isn't. Making someone a Slayer is sort of like lighting a match. Once the metaphorical flame caught it was supposed to keep burning. But if it goes out you can't light the match again. It's supposed to keep burning and... well, I mean I dont think there is a way to put that red head back in the girls so to speak so we can light them up again. I don't think it can be done. I'll keep looking and ask Giles to help and get in touch with some of the Covens the council is friendly with but I-I don't know. Maybe there is a way but Giles says he's worried about the stability of the balance and that maybe the PTB's had a hand in this. I'll try to help and try to find something but-but I'm not all sure it can be done. I'm so, so sorry Buffy," said Willow, looking nervous and anxiously awaiting her friend's reaction.

Sitting at her desk Buffy swallowed hard. She tried to put on a brave face, "Hey well at least we managed to defeat the First. And we got about three years of help with all the girls. Guess it was too much to hope for for the PTBs to cut us that much of a break, huh? Had to take it all away sooner or later," as much as she tried to Buffy couldn't keep the bitterness from her voice.

There was a long silence when neither of the girls spoke. Finally Willow said softly, "We'll be ok Buffy. This thing kind of blindsided us and we'll be reeling from it for a while but we've been through worse. Maybe there's still hope to fix it. And even if we can't, you'll still have all of us. After the First, how bad could any future crisis be right?" she said offering her friend a small smile.

Buffy tried to return the smile but it felt more like a pained grimace on her face. "Thanks Will. Thanks for letting me know. Will you make sure everyone knows what's going on? It's not exactly something we can keep a secret anymore. I-I need a few minutes to myself. I'll be out and help you deal with the fallout in a bit," said Buffy while being barely able to keep her voice steady.

Willow gave her best friend a small sympathetic smile and nodded. "I'll spread the word. It's going to get a lot quieter around here soon that's for sure. Take your time, me and the gang can handle things for a while," with that she quietly left the office and closed the door.

It was only moments after Willow had left that hot tears started to roll from Buffy. For three years they had been getting together this training center for all the girls and in other places around the world. Three years where Buffy had worked hard setting up the global Slayer network.

Most important to Buffy the responsibility of keeping the world safe had not just been entirely hers. She had had thousands of other Slayers to help in the good fight against the forces of darkness. Buffy had even been thinking that she might be able to go into semi-retirement in a few years with all the girls they had been training.

Now all those plans and all that work meant absolutely nothing. All the potential Slayers had slowly started losing their powers a few days ago. Now according to Willow all the activated Slayers would completely lose all their powers in another week. All that hard work and all those plans down the drain, just like that.

It was going to be the same as back in Sunnydale before it sank to the ground. It all fell on her again, she was the only one. Buffy buried her head in her arms on top of her desk and sobbed for everything she suddenly lost in a matter of days.

She was the One Girl in all the World. Again. Bye bye hope of having any kind of a normal life, or of ever living to see forty. Making it to even thirty was probably overly optimistic now. Again.

When she realized what else this new development meant, her sobs of loss slowed and were somewhat replaced by apprehension and annoyance.

Now that the potentials were going to be out of the picture she was probably going to at some point have to work with _her_ again.

She realized it wouldn't be One Girl in all the World again. It would be two. The Chosen Two as her counterpart liked to put it.

It should have been a comfort and in a way it was. But having to deal with _her_ for any amount of time always ended in disaster.

Buffy gave a small frustrated groan before she started sobbing in earnest again.

Why did the PTBs hate her so damn much?

000B&FvS000

It had been two weeks since Willow had broken the big news and after a lot of tears and denial most of the two hundred girls that had been living in their large compound outside of Cleveland had gone home. Of the potentials so far only Kennedy had decided to stay, both because she wanted to continue with the good fight even though she was depowered and because of Willow.

The original scoobs plus Andrew, Dawn and Kennedy sat around a living area. They knew they had to discuss what to do next but none of them were eager to do it.

"So," began Xander, never one to feel comfortable in silences, "it kinda feels like we've all had the reset button set on us, doesn't it? It's sort of like being in Sunnydale all over again. Except now we're all stronger and wiser. Maybe this isn't as bad as all that. Plus, no more First Evil. After dealing with that another Apocalypse on the level of the Master or the Mayor shouldn't too hard to deal with – I mean relatively speaking of course."

"We're older too, don't forget," pitched in Andrew.

That drew a scowl from Kennedy, "In what universe is that a good thing Andrew?" she said harshly. Kennedy was taking the loss of her powers pretty hard. Willow placed a comforting hand on her shoulder that the brunette gladly accepted.

"Well Cleveland has the most active Hellmouth in the world by far," said Willow, "while it really sucks that now we won't be able to keep the vamp and demon numbers super low worldwide because of what happened, I mean as long as we keep an eye on the Hellmouth and on potentially Earth-ending events everything should be fine. You know, more or less."

"I don't know about you guys, but I really liked having lots of people in an organization helping out," said Xander "If we're going to talk about what we're going to do next, maybe we could find and train some people who could help in the good fight? I mean just because we lost all the Slayers doesn't mean we should let all this work on the school go to waste. We could see about training human volunteers to help with the vampire killing. We've known some human hunters who could hold their own pretty well. Or we could turn this place into a witch-college and have a hundred mini-Willow's running around. Any demon with half a brain would pee their scaly drawers with a force like that coming after them."

"Oh," said Willow, her face brightening at the idea, "I would really like that. But I doubt we could fill this place. I mean people with that kind of magical talent are pretty rare."

The conversation went on like that for a while and Buffy only half-listened, not really caring too much right then what they decided to do next. It wasn't until Giles spoke a few minutes later that her attention was brought back to the conversation.

"We need to contact Faith as soon as possible as well. I'm afraid we'll need her here. This Hellmouth is now at least as active as Sunnydale's and we have a much larger geographical area to cover. It would be prudent to recall her and have her here with us. We need to pool our resources for the time being. It's safest that way until we figure out exactly what we can do."

"Wait," said Buffy, momentarily surprised, "you actually know where Faith is? How to get in touch with her?" Buffy herself hadn't seen or heard from the Dark Slayer in almost two and a half years – not since they'd had the mother of all fights and Faith had left Cleveland. As far as she knew Faith had dropped completely off the grid. The only reason she even knew the other girl was still alive was because she was certain she'd feel it if she died.

Giles looked uncomfortable and a bit guilty. "I've been in more or less regular contact with her since shortly after she... left Cleveland. I took it upon myself to put her in charge of operations in South America. She's been in the continent a bit over two years now, flying around and dealing with demon and vampire activity wherever we've gotten wind of it. I'm sorry I didn't tell you Buffy – or anyone else – but when she left you were on rather bad terms and she agreed to continue to work with the organization only if I kept it all to myself. I've honored our agreement and have been channeling funds to her so she could do her work."

Buffy was stunned. Giles had deliberately kept all that from her, even lied to her the few times she had asked if he had heard anything about Faith. There was so much wrong with all that Buffy didn't even know where to begin being upset.

She took a stab at it and went with the first coherent thing that came to mind.

"She's been running an entire cell in South America? Giles, _I _am – was – in charge of placing all the girls and deploying them. Where the heck did the girls in Faith's cell come from? I didn't even know we had assets in South America. How did you guys hide these girls from me? Did they even get any training before the went into the meat grinder with Ms. Unstable?" she practically yelled at her former mentor. Reason one of a thousand why Giles keeping this from her for _years_ made her pissed off and hurt.

Giles shook his head. "There were never any Slayers in her cell Buffy. Faith never gave me the specifics but she found some people who have been helping her in her duties for the past two years. She says she trusts them, and I decided to trust that she knew what she was doing."

Buffy felt bitterness and a vague pang of jealousy. So Faith had been living it up in South America with a whole new group of unknowns she hunted with on a regular basis. Why did the thought of that bother her?

"Giles, I don't get why you decided to keep this from me," she said, eyes hard and angry, "I've asked you more than once over the past couple of years if you knew anything about Faith. You lied to my face every time. So much for being able to trust you."

"Buffy," began Willow in a conciliatory tone, "maybe we should hear him out? And you know the fight you two had was rather epic when she left..."

Buffy shot Willow an angry glare, "Whose side are you on anyway Willow? And you can't tell me you're happy to learn we've had a whole operation going on in South America that nobody knew about."

Giles took off his glasses and he looked at everyone before his gaze settled on Buffy, his voice taking firm tone, "I feel I made the best decision I could at the time and I stand by my decision. The options presented to me were losing Faith completely from the organization or agree to keep her dealings quiet from the rest of you. By all accounts she and her team have done a fantastic job in reducing the number of supernatural threats in the continent. Besides that things between you two had degenerated rapidly after we all arrived in Cleveland and quite frankly Buffy you have not always acted entirely rationally when it comes to Faith. If you knew where she was Faith was afraid you might try to micromanage her activities or otherwise interfere. That would have ended in disaster and as angry as you two were at each other I have little doubt you would have eventually tried to do so Buffy. I truly do not like keeping things from you but in this case I felt it was necessary. I am sorry that circumstances forced me to have to lie to you. That was something I did not enjoy and hope I will never be in a position to have to do so again. However it did keep Faith in the fold and she has done rather well in that time. Plus, I gave her my word. All of you know by now how difficult it is for Faith to trust anyone and had I betrayed that trust we may well have lost her for good. That was not a risk worth taking in my judgment."

Buffy fumed. Basically Giles had lied to her because he didn't trust her not to get into another fight with Faith and drive the girl away completely. Well, that and he had given his word. Buffy looked around briefly and saw everyone else looking uncomfortable but something in their expression told her they thought Giles was not entirely in the wrong.

_Dammit _thought Buffy, _if I HAD known especially early on I probably would have called Faith and it would have degenerated into another huge fight. Plus I probably would have been really tempted to try and manage what she did down there. I don't have to like it but maybe it was for the best... at least from purely slaying point of view. _

"Ok," said Buffy, "I'm still pissed off that nobody bothered to tell me anything for over two years. But I can understand your reasons for keeping quiet Giles. If anyone deserves to get raked through the coals it's Faith for pretending we don't exist for two and a half years."

Dawn rolled her eyes "Would you get off it Buffy? Just get over whatever beef you _still_ have with Faith. Hello, hang on to anger much? It's been over two years and she left because of _you_. If you blow up on her as soon as she walks through the door she's just going to turn around and leave all over again."

It was Buffy's turn to roll her eyes. Unfortunately this time her sister was probably right. "Fine I'll make an effort to keep things civil. Eventually she and I will have to hash some things out after she gets here though. I can't imagine that will be pretty or quiet," said Buffy. Saying out loud that Faith would be coming back made her stomach clench uncomfortably. Somehow that just made the whole thing more real.

"I'll make the call later," said Giles, "now, about this place still being a school I think we should consider..."

Giles kept talking but Buffy found herself unable to focus on the discussion around her once again. The loss of all the activated Slayers had been a heavy blow to Buffy that she was still reeling from. The Faith thing was also making her worry. She couldn't help but wonder who these people who had been helping Faith fight evil were and if they would be coming with her back to Cleveland.

000B&FvS000

Nightime in Bogota was pretty much the same as any other place so close to the Equator; hot, hot and more hot with a side order of hundred percent humidity. It had taken a while but Faith had more or less gotten used to the constant wet heat that existed year round in much of South America. Mostly giving up leather and dressing more sensibly for the weather helped. Cold beer helped to fight the heat even more.

Faith was sitting in her hotel balcony with her feet up on the rail, cold beer on one hand and cigarette on the other. As she looked over the Bogota skyline she tried to relax and will her aching and tight muscles to unclench.

The Slayer felt her partner of two years walk up behind her. When they had first started working together she never would have trusted him at her unguarded back; now after two years of fighting and bleeding together she trusted him as much as she had ever trusted anyone.

"Not going out and getting piss drunk lass? And after a big job? We should get the little guy on it, I'm thinking this could be a sign of the apocalypse," came a voice behind her.

Faith couldn't help but gingerly look over her shoulder and give him a sour look, "If a certain pasty peroxide addict hadn't gotten lost finding his way to that basement, I wouldn't have gotten the shit beat out of me as badly as I did."

The vampire sat in another cheap chair next to her, popping open a beer in his hand, "I told you luv I didn't get lost. I got jumped by a bunch of human gangbangers of all things. Took me a bit to put them all out of commission without killing any of them. They even put a few new bullet holes in my coat, the bloody wankers."

"Really Spike? You let some vanilla humans get in your way?" she was trying to sound pissed but couldn't keep the amusement and the teasing mockery out of her voice, "It's really great you being one of the good guys and all but I'm thinking this new and cuddly vampire routine might be making you soft. Been stopping to help any old ladies cross the street lately? Volunteering at soup kitchens and saving kittens from trees on your nights off Spike?"

"Bloody hell Slayer, I wasn't the one who got beat like a soddin' drum by a nest of demons tonight like a complete ponce. If anyone screwed the pooch tonight it was you luv. I told you to wait for me before checking that place out didn't I? But you just had to go charging right in when I was ten minutes late. You're still the type that's got more balls than brains, that's for sure" said the vampire while pulling out and lighting a cigarette.

Faith knew she should have waited even though chances had been low that the demon nest was actually down there. She hadn't been able to sense the demons in the building, and it turned out they had some exotic spell up to keep themselves hidden. Faith didn't make many mistakes hunting anymore but that night she definitely had. Just another reminder that without the allies she'd found she would have probably been dead somewhere in South America a long time ago. She wasn't about to admit that outloud to Spike though. Besides they both knew he was right.

Instead Faith just grinned at her friend, "How do you know I've got balls? You been trying to see me naked again Peroxide Avenger? I knew I shoulda found a hotel with locks in the bathrooms, I know you still got that sick kink for Slayer booty in that perverted head of yours."

Spike rolled his eyes. He'd walked into the bathroom to get something while she was showering that _one_ time and now he'd never hear the end of it, "Get over yourself Slayer. I'd tap that, except I'd rather not get every venereal disease in South America. My Slayer was a nice girl, not one who took Casanova's life as a personal challenge to overcome."

"Fine by me. I got lots of issues, but necrophilia thankfully 'aint one of them."

They lapsed into companionable silence, Faith trying to settle herself into a somewhat comfortable position with bruised ribs, bruises on her face and torso and a badly twisted ankle. She was too beat up to go partying as was her routine after a mission but chilling with Spike wasn't so bad. Though they tended to rib each other mercilessly they had developed a surprisingly strong friendship and bond to both of their astonishments.

"So where are we going next boss?" asked Spike between beer and pulls from his cigarette. He called her 'boss' always with a mocking tone but they both knew the score. Faith _was_ in charge of their little group of rejects because she held the purse strings and Spike didn't particularly want the responsibility... and because she was a natural leader and her stupid ballsiness made people want to follow her into battle no matter how ridiculous the odds.

"'Lil-C thinks he's got a lead on a group of demons living in the Amazon in Brazil. Been snatching people from villages up and down the edge of the forest. Always on the move. Figure we go down there and dig up some more info, hunt the bastards down."

Spike groaned, "Not the bloody Amazon again Faith. Seems every time a demon or vampire spooks in this damn continent they run to that soddin forest. If I have to spend another week slugging through the jungle I'm going to burn the whole lot of it to the ground."

"Don't be such a pussy Fang," said Faith in a good natured way, "at least all the bugs and giant mosquitoes leave you alone with you being dead and all. Besides, I've kinda started to dig the whole outdoor girl thing. It's nice to get away from the city life for a while."

"It's not exactly a vacation lass. We'd be going there to fight demons in case you already forgot."

"Oh I didn't forget. What part of killing demons isn't vacation material? Best damn relaxation anyone's likely to find," she said to him with a little wry smirk.

At that moment Faith's room phone rang. The girl muttered a few curses feeling every bruise and hurt on her body as she got up and limped to the phone. On the sixth ring she picked up.

"Que quieres?" she asked rudely, using the Spanish for 'what do you want'. Faith had not appreciated getting up from her beer and cigarettes.

"Faith? It's me, Rupert Giles."

Faith's sour mode was instantly washed away, "Hey G-man! What's up? We weren't scheduled for contact for another week. Got some hot tip on some new baddy down our way?" she asked.

"No, not exactly Faith. There have been some rather startling developments of late. I know you're not thrilled by the idea but I'm afraid I must ask that you come back to Cleveland."

Faith frowned. She had promised herself she would never go back there unless it was some life or death situation. The brunette Slayer had spent the last couple of years trying to carve out a life for herself and learning to trust the people she fought with. Their little group was not perfect but it was the best she'd ever had and she wasn't about to give that up. Not now.

"Listen G I've got absolutely zero desire to go back to the U.S. right now, much less go back to Cleveland. The scoobs never liked me much and Buffy and me were at each other's throats almost from the minute we got to Cleveland. No offense, but there's no friggin way I'm going back there. With the snap of your fingers you and the super-friends could have five hundred Slayers backing you up for whatever's going on. You don't need me there."

"I'm afraid you're wrong about out ability to summon backup Faith. That is precisely what the 'startling developments' I mentioned are about," said Giles. He then proceeded to tell Faith how over the period of a couple of weeks all the activated Slayers had lost their powers, probably for good. Faith had to sit down on the bed as she took in all that news.

"Damn. That's some heavy shit right there, G-man," said Faith almost absently, mind still whirling by what this would mean.

"Yes, significant and extremely unfortunate. That is why you are needed back in Cleveland now Faith. Unfortunately at least for the time being it looks like we will have to resume operating like we did before the potentials were activated. That is the Slayers need to keep a lid on the Hellmouth and unfortunately let everything going on in the rest of the world sort itself out. Any world ending events almost invariably originate from or have something to do with the world's most active Hellmouth and it must be protected at all costs. As one of only two Slayers in the world it is imperative for you to be in the Hellmouth Faith."

She knew what Giles was saying technically made sense, but she wasn't going to give up that easily. "You don't need me Giles. You have the Chosen One, little miss perfect Buffy Summers. She and the scoobs handled the Sunnydale Hellmouth without any help for what, seven years? Buffy can stay and be queen of the Hellmouth and I can be the Slayer who flies around the world making sure evil doesn't get too comfortable everywhere else. That's a much better use for two Slayers as I see it."

"Cleveland is much different than Sunnydale in a lot of ways that make it a more difficult and dangerous place to keep a lid on Faith. The Hellmouth is at least as active as the one in Sunnydale was but with the difference that the human population here is much, much bigger. That means a proportionately larger number of vampires and demons than there ever were in Sunnydale. With teams of girls it was relatively simple to keep their numbers down but with only one Slayer we'll soon be up to our ears in at least vampires, if not other demons as well. I think it's going to take the full effort of both you and Buffy to keep this Hellmouth under control," said Giles in a conciliatory tone.

Unhappily, grudgingly Faith conceded that Giles kind of had a point. Her time in South America had shown her how more people meant more vampires. The problem would become many times worse in the Hellmouth.

On the other hand there was no way in hell that Faith was going back under Buffy's thumb. There was also no way she was breaking up or giving up on her team. After feeling rejected and unwanted by Buffy and her precious scoobs this had been the family she had painfully managed to put together for herself. Yeah it was a fucked up group, having Spike included in her little 'family' was proof enough of that. But it was hers goddamn it.

"If I go back – and it's still a big 'IF' at the moment Giles - I'm not going back there alone. My team comes with me," she said, tone clear that she would not be moved on this point.

There was a hesitation on the other end of the line. "I never heard of any details as to who these friends of yours are. Perhaps we could discuss who and what they are? And how many are there?"

Faith was still hoping to somehow get out of going back to Cleveland. If she had to go anyway she was going to be getting everything she damn well wanted. "There are four of us now, and a fifth who's going to meet up with us in a few months. And I'm not going to sit here and discuss who or what they are and justify myself to get the approval of the scooby gang. I trust them and that should be good enough for everyone. They either come with me or I don't come at all," part of her was hoping her crappy attitude would just make Giles say 'screw it' and tell her not bother coming after all.

There was a long silence on the other line. Eventually Giles cleared his throat and said somewhat uncomfortably, "I know I can't speak for everyone but for what it's worth I trust your judgment Faith. If you think they can help us here in Cleveland then I suppose we would be lucky to have them here." Faith could tell he was uncomfortable about letting completely unknown peoples in to live in the Cleveland compound but Faith was kind of touched by the trust he seemed to put on her.

"You sure Buffy and the scoobs won't overrule you on this G?" asked Faith, half teasing and half serious.

"I told them you might be reluctant to come back so I was given the task of ah, negotiating with you about your return. Whatever we agree to they will abide by."

Well. Imagine that. Maybe going back to Cleveland wouldn't automatically be a full on nuclear disaster. Maybe it would only be at the level of a natural disaster. There were a few more things she needed to have if she was really going to go back to Cleveland.

"Well that's good to know G. There are also a few other things that a non-negotiable as far as I'm concerned. First of all I don't want to be taking orders from Buffy or any of the scoobs again. I'm used to planning and running my own ops now and I'm not about to go back and play scorned second fiddle to little miss sunshine. I'm in charge of my people and my team doesn't get broken up. And we work _with_ you, not _for_ you. We get treated as equals to the superfriends or we don't go up at all."

Some part of Faith was sure this would be a deal breaker. Even if Giles agreed to it she knew once Buffy got wind of it she would shut it down no matter that she agreed to let Giles "negotiate". In L.A. that one time on the roof Faith knew she had been right, Buffy was nothing if not a control freak. Maybe this would make it so she could continue as she had been without having to deal with Buffy Summers again.

There was a long pause from the other side once again. Then Giles said, "In theory I don't see why that would be a problem operationally speaking. And I know many of your... difficulties... with Buffy were often disagreements over how to go about doing things. Perhaps this would be for the best in order for everyone to be able to work together," said Giles cautiously. Faith could tell he wasn't entirely comfortable with this idea either but was willing to go along with it.

"You sure Buffy won't overrule you once she hears of that little nugget?" asked Faith with amusement in her voice.

"Nowdays in running the organization things are a bit more... democratic than they used to be. Even if one or two people were uncomfortable with the arrangement I believe the rest would go along with this course of action with my recommendation," said Giles in careful even tones.

Faith was surprised. When she had been there last Buffy still had the last word on all decisions. Faith started to feel a little bit hopeful that maybe things had gotten better in Cleveland.

Also if Giles thought most of the scoobs would go along with this even against Buffy's likely protests then the situation in Cleveland might be even worse than she thought.

Faith raked her brain furiously to think of what else she should ask for. It wasn't just to protect her, but now she also had people she was in charge of. Granted all of them could take care of themselves but if she was going to be their "leader" for a while longer she had to do everything she could to make sure they were taken care of. And to keep them out from underneath the boot of the scooby gang.

She was going to push the envelope one more time, this being a make or break moment. "Ok, well if that's all agreed to then just a couple of more minor details. We want to live in a house on the property, my people aren't getting shoved in some crappy student housing. And I want a guaranteed stipend and operations budget that can't be taken away or changed unless we leave the organization. As in I want it in proper legalese writing. I don't want Buffy pulling out our funding if she gets in a huff," said Faith. So maybe it was unfair to paint Buffy that way but Faith didn't have a lot of fond memories of the last couple of months she had been in Cleveland. "If you can do all that," said Faith gritting her teeth, "then I guess we're in. Provided that my team agrees to it that is, though I really don't think that will be a problem."

"Yes well we do have a four bedroom on the property that is currently unused though it does need some fixing up. But you said there were five of you? I'm sorry but currently we don't have anyplace with five bedrooms."

"Don't worry G," said Faith, and then suggestively she added, "there won't be any need for that fifth bedroom. Trust me on this."

"Ah, yes, well," sputtered Giles a bit, uncomfortable with her insinuation, "and the stipend for each of you won't be a problem. We can make an appropriate contract once you are here. If you don't mind Faith I would like for you to get here as soon as possible. How soon do you think you and your... team will be able to leave for Cleveland?"

"I'll talk to everyone and start looking for tickets tomorrow," said Faith, sounding a little defeated and accepting that she would indeed be going back to the Slayer Compound, "I'll let you know when the flights are and all that."

"Right. Well, I hope to see you soon Faith. I'll see what can be done to make the empty house livable in the meantime."

"Sounds good G," Faith then hesitated before adding, "by the way thanks Giles. You know for being cool about this and working with me like you have the last couple of years. I don't think I ever really said that before."

"It's no problem Faith," she heard him say, and she could hear the genuine smile in his voice, "you've done well these past few years and it has been a pleasure working with you. We'll see you soon Faith."

"Right. Goo'bye."

They hung up and Faith took a deep calming breath.

"So, old Giles talk you into going back to Cleveland? What song and dance did he give you to get you to agree to _that?" _said Spike who had wandered inside and was leaning against a wall.

Of course Spike had been eavesdropping. He'd had a habit of doing that as far back as Sunnydale. "Believe me it's not like I want to go back. Me and Buffy have always been a spark away from killing each other. But it looks like things might start to get bad again soon on the Hellmouth," Faith filled Spike in on everything Giles had told her on the other side of the conversation.

Spike looked pensive. Eventually he moved over to the bed in her room and sat heavily next to her. "Well, I suppose hiding that I'm alive going on three years now was getting to be just a touch more cowardly than I'd like to admit. Plus it sounds like they might actually need our help," the vampire said thoughtfully.

Faith gave him a curious look. "If anyone was going to have a problem with this I thought it would be you Fang. Did you miss the part where I said you were gonna still be part of my crew? Thought you'd want to go back to being as close to Buffy as possible. I know you're still in love with her and all that."

Spike shook his head slowly, "Aye, I'm still in love with her. Still would give up my life for her. Unfortunately this was one of the few times in his entire bloody existence that broody jerkoff Angel got it right. Nothing good can come of it in the end, with me being a vampire and she human and all," said Spike with a hint of melancholy.

Spike got up and headed to the balcony. He reached in his coat and pulled out another cigarette. "Don't you worry lass. I've grown quite fond of working with you these past couple of years, I've even gotten used to all the crap that comes out of that smart mouth of yours. I'd rather stick to ass kicking with our little band of miscreants than go be a hanger on to Buffy and her little group again."

Faith felt a genuine smile tugging at her lips. "William the fucking Bloody, are you saying you'll take my side when me and Buffy eventually clash over something? I never would have dreamed I'd see the day."

Spike gave her a flat unamused look, "Do I look like a retard to you? When you two start arguing I'm staying well clear of that mess. All I'm saying is that when it comes to the monster fighting business, I'm your man," he then gave her a cocky grin, "you've got more style and a finer appreciation for violence than Buffy ever did. Think of it as job satisfaction when fighting the forces of evil."

Faith was touched and more relieved than she'd thought she would be. She'd gotten to know Spike well and she could see what he both was and wasn't saying. _I love Buffy but you and I are close mate. I'm planning on sticking by you and not ditching you for the Summers girl._

"Come on," she said, getting up gingerly, "let's go find the others and see about getting us as shit-faced as possible. Since this just might be our final big Colombian blowout party, drinks are on me," she said with a big dimpled grin.

Spike got the message in guy speak. _Thanks a lot man. I really appreciate it._

The souled vampire nodded. "Right. Well if you're paying, then I'm getting me the good stuff tonight."

000B&FvS000

**A/N: **

Next chapter Faith and her team head to Cleveland. Buffy and Faith confront each other after two and a half years. We also find out what actually happened after the finale of Angel.

Please Review!

SixPerfections


	2. All The World

000B&FvS000

"So this Buffy girl, she's the blonde monkey that made your life miserable? And you're dragging us back there why exactly? We should be making plans on how to kill her, not join up and play nice," a deep male voice said.

"I agree," came a resonant female voice, "I have learned much of loyalty and I am... fond of you Faith Lehane. We should consider revenge for her transgressions. It would please me to remove her spine for you."

Faith shook her head, amused despite herself. All four of them were sitting around a back table in a shoddy bar, Faith taking a long pull from her whiskey and coke. Someone out there really had a sense of humor to make her of all people the one responsible for trying to teach human morality to these two.

"We're not killing Buffy guys. Yeah she hasn't always done right by me and she can be a huge bitch when the mood strikes her. But we're the good guys remember? We can't just kill people for being dicks. Besides for all her flaws Buffy really _is_ good at the whole saving the world thing. We're going there to fight evil, it would be kind of dumb to off an ally that's also fighting the good fight don't you think?" said Faith.

"In my clan such mistreatment could be grounds for a blood feud you know. If I had my full powers I might feel obligated to take bloody retribution. Hunt her down and kill her in a back alley, all proper like," said the deep male voice. His tone however was soft and indicated he would go along with what Faith wanted, albeit reluctantly.

The other female of the group looked thoughtful. "Perhaps after the Hellmouth threat is over we could exact retribution. Or if Faith Lehane wishes to be merciful we could just torture her for a time. From what you say she would still fight evil even after that."

"No one is going to be hurting Buffy, get it through your thick skulls the both of you," said Spike starting to get aggravated at the topic of conversation, "if you keep talking like that you're risking getting me seriously ticked off."

The female turned an icy glare to Spike, "I thought you were loyal to Faith Lehane. If you plan on betraying her to the other Slayer I will end you vampire. I've heard enough tales of your obsession with that one."

"You want to talk obsessions you bloody bint? I'm not the one who follows Faith around like a lost puppy. And I'm plenty 'loyal' enough but that's not the issue here. We're going there to try and make nice, not to plan some glorious 'friggin revenge."

"You presume much vampire. Such an insult cannot be allowed to stand."

"Lay off it sunshine. Faith already told you to leave Buffy alone. Besides, you don't know the whole story of what went down between those two."

Faith shot Spike a warning glare and the vampire looked sheepish when he realized his mistake. The two of them were keeping the whole story of Faith and Buffy's past secret from their two friends. If they found out that Buffy had once stabbed Faith and almost killed her the brunette Slayer wasn't sure even she would be able to stop them from trying to kill Buffy.

"Just chill guys," said Faith hoping in vain her two allies wouldn't pick up on Spike's slip up, "remember rule number one: we don't kill humans. Just 'cuz you got a personal grudge against one doesn't make it right for you to kill them. As a team we've gone close to six months without killing any humans, let's not go breaking our good run anytime soon."

"So you say," the deep male voice grumbled, "but that doesn't mean I can't fantasize about making her skull into my own personal toilet."

000B&FvS000

"Really Buffy, I think you're overreacting. I'm sure these friends of Faith are all perfectly nice," said Willow in her best positive-girl voice.

"How do you know that? That's just the thing, we don't know anything. And why won't Faith tell Giles anything about these supposed 'allies' of hers? I don't want some potentially dangerous unknowns around Dawn or any of you. All I know now is that we're supposed to welcome three complete strangers into our lives. God, who agreed to this? How could any of you possibly think that this was a good idea?" said Buffy as she beat the stuffing out of a punching bag in the large school gym. She didn't like the idea of bringing all these new people in and was angry about being overruled. Xander had been the only one to take her side on that issue.

Willow shrugged standing off to the side, "Maybe it was inevitable you know? I mean I kind of expected Faith to be sort of a loner for her whole life. I'm pretty sure we all thought that. But you know she always wanted to feel part of the group, in hindsight it was pretty obvious even as far back as when she first came to Sunnydale. After she left it's not too surprising that she would eventually find herself her own version of the scooby gang. I don't think we ever went far enough trying to make her feel part of the group."

Buffy let that sink in, swallowing a lump in her throat as she continued to pound the heavy leather bag. If she was honest she had a ton of regrets when it came to her history with Faith. She knew that in a lot of ways she was just as responsible as the other girl for their broken relationship.

"This just stinks Willow. Faith has never been best-decision girl. For all we know she's been getting help from some real loons, or even from some vampires or something."

"Well, she certainly wouldn't be the first one to let vampires or some real loons sign up for her team," said Willow, smiling at her friend's unintentional hypocrisy.

"What? We never let any loons help out," said Buffy defensively as she switched to kicking the heavy bag. She wisely ignored the whole vampires comment.

"I think Andrew was pretty looney. I'm pretty sure Anya fit the bill as well," said the redhead with mirth in her voice.

"Yeah well they were harmless looney. Not homicidal mass-murderer maniac looney," countered Buffy, kicking the bag hard enough to send it flying.

Willow sighed in exasperation, "What's this really about Buffy? I'm getting the feeling that it's more than just having some unexpected help coming our way."

Buffy paused from hitting the bag. She threw her hands up in the air, "I don't know Willow. That part really is bugging me, don't get me wrong. But.. I guess I never really learned to trust Faith again. Not completely. And now I – we – are supposed to trust her with a whole team at her beck and call? What if something happens and she goes all bad girl again? I don't think I could handle a death match with her a second time Willow. The first time was hard enough. I guess I'm kind of terrified of history repeating itself," Buffy said, shoulders suddenly sagging and her expression downcast.

Willow approached her best friend and put a supportive hand on her shoulder. "Is that why you gave Faith such a hard time when she was here Buffy? Because you were afraid of history repeating itself?" she asked gently.

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know. I think that was part of it. Truth is I don't know why she gets under my skin and why we always end up fighting so much. We just do."

"Well," began Willow hopefully, "it's been two and a half years. Maybe things will be easier than you expect. I'm sure Faith doesn't want to fight anymore than you do. And for all her faults I got to know Faith well enough to know she wouldn't want any of us to get hurt. I don't think she'd let any of her friends hurt us even if they are a bit looney and vampire-ee and all that."

"Yeah," said Buffy without much enthusiasm, "you're right Will. I don't think she would turn on us and hurt us just like that, or let her flunkies do it either. Mostly. But if this is going to have any chance of working, I'll just have to give her another chance."

"It's a second chance for you too Buffy. She's not the only one who has things she probably needs to work on."

000B&FvS000

_**21 hours later**_

Giles was quite proud of the work they had done in getting the so called Slayer Compound up and running. They had several square miles of property outside the city with most of their property being wooded areas. They had one large main building which housed the offices, gym, classroom and dorms. They had also built two cottage style houses on the property for the faculty and staff within walking distance of the main school tucked away in the woods.

They had a state of the art security system all around the property and especially around the main school building and houses. It would be tantamount to suicide for any vampires or demons to try and invade the property. Other than the Vatican or a few other places like it the Slayer Compound was the most secure facility against the supernatural in all of the world.

Giles was now standing in front of the third and final house in the property, a two story four bedroom colonial style house that had already been on the property when they bought it. It was tucked away further from the other buildings out of sight down a dirt driveway. Other than the house needing a few repairs and perhaps a paint job it was really a lovely home. Giles could imagine himself spending time reading and drinking some wonderful tea on that porch.

Giles was torn from his thoughts when his radio cracked to life, "Giles, this is command and control central with your security guru Andrew speaking. The yellow bird has entered the premises, I repeat, the yellow bird has entered the premises. It has been instructed where to fly to it's destination."

Giles replied on his radio, "Yes thank you Andrew. I'll keep an eye out for the taxi, thanks for letting me know," said Giles trying to keep the distaste for the antics from his voice. Even after all these years he still couldn't get fully used to Andrew's peculiarities.

The light of dawn was just creeping over the horizon when the minivan-taxi pulled up in front of the colonial home. The back door opened and the first to jump out was Faith with a large duffel bag slung over her shoulder.

"G-man," she said as she approached him with a dimpled smile, "been a while. It's good to see you," she said and to his ears she seemed to really mean it.

"Yes it's good to see you well Faith. I'm glad that you could come as quickly as you did, thank you for that," he said.

They stood there awkwardly for a moment not sure how to greet. If it had been Buffy he would have given her a hug but he had never been that close to Faith. She broke the awkwardness by sticking her hand out to shake. The trained Watcher gratefully took her hand.

"I was hoping to save proper introductions until tonight G. You said you all were planning a kind of welcome back dinner right? I'd rather go through the hassle of introducing everyone at once if you don't mind," said Faith.

This was a different Faith than Giles remembered. She was still much the same but she carried herself with a confidence and self assurance that she had never had before. Also quite interestingly she now had a bearing somewhat like Buffy's, the bearing of someone who was used to giving orders and having others fall in line.

"Well yes I suppose that would be alright. I'll just give you the keys to the house and leave you to rest, no doubt you've had a tiring flight and wish to get settled in. The meal will be in the main building at 7pm, but feel free to come earlier if you like."

It was then when Giles got his first look at Faith's 'team' as they left the taxi and headed for the door without a second look at him. The first was a woman who was not doing much to hide the fact that she was not entirely human. There was also another small... creature that came out of the taxi and Giles could not be sure if it was actually part of the 'team' or not. Finally a male figure dressed all in black ran from the taxi with his head covered in a black tarp. Well at least he could make a very good guess as to what one of them was.

Giles motioned at the presumed vampire, "Are you sure he is, you know, safe?" asked Giles warily. He had occasionally been forced to work with vampires but he had never been comfortable with the whole experience. Especially not when those vampires did not possess a soul.

Faith took the keys from his hand. "Don't worry about him, he's tame as a puppy dog. I think you'll be just fine with him when meet him later, at least as fine with it as you've ever been," said Faith with a mischievous look in her eye. Something about this struck her as funny but Giles couldn't suss out what.

Suddenly not feeling comfortable with two presumably demonic entities nearby Giles decided it was a good time to retreat. "Well, do be careful Faith. Come say hi later if you like, most of us spend our days in the main building. If not I'll see you this evening then."

"Right. Thanks for everything G-man. And don't worry I wouldn't have brought them here if I thought they were going to start to eat people. I'm going to get settled in, see ya later."

"Sure. We'll see you all later," with that Giles beat a hasty retreat. He did trust Faith but years of training and not having any weapons on him was telling Giles to get away from her 'team' as quickly as he could.

God he hoped another Slayer hadn't taken to shagging vampires was all he could think on his way back to the main building.

000B&FvS000

It was sometime after lunch when Buffy was sitting in her office trying to figure out what she might do with the training budget now that there wasn't anyone to actually train. She was looking at the numbers so hard and trying to come up with good ways to use all that money that she didn't notice when a familiar figure darkened her doorway.

"Hey B. Been a long time."

Buffy looked up in surprise at hearing that familiar, husky voice. Faith was leaning against the doorframe with her thumbs in her pockets. The Dark Slayer looked different than Buffy remembered and the blonde girl took a moment to look her over. Her naturally light olive skin was a couple of shades darker, no doubt from having spent a great deal of time under the hot sun. She was also dressed differently, for once not wearing the leather or skin tight jeans she had always seemed to live in. Instead she was dressed in black military cargo pants that somehow still managed to hint at her figure. She wore a tight dark tank top and very minimalistic make up. The other Slayer looked good. The tan gave her a healthy vibrant look and she looked both hot and ready to kick ass at a second's notice. Buffy gaped at her in surprise for a moment before finding her voice.

"Faith. You're here," she said lamely, momentarily at a loss on what to say. Buffy thought she'd have some time to ready herself for this confrontation.

Faith smirked at her and Buffy could feel her face heating up.

"You check me out and then I leave you speechless. You sure know how to stroke a girl's ego blondie. Bet you're wondering if I got any tan lines, 'aint cha?" Faith said, her grin widening at seeing the other girl's reaction, "you can always check. I know I wouldn't mind."

Buffy rolled her eyes, Faith's final comment finally breaking the spell. "After all this time we're opening up with the sexual innuendo? You're such a pig Faith. I can see that you haven't changed," she said, her annoyance and embarrassment driving her comments.

The brunette shrugged, her smile slipping from her face. "And I can see no one's gotten around to pulling that stick from your ass. Is it just me you can't joke around with or is it an everyone thing?" Faith said clearly not happy with Buffy's reception.

"Just-" began Buffy but closed her mouth to stop another nasty comment. Degenerating into a fight because of something this stupid the first time they had seen each other after years was not something that Buffy wanted to happen.

Instead she said, "Sorry. I'm under a lot of stress and I guess I got un-used to all those comments from you. I didn't mean to lash out like that especially after all this time."

Faith seemed mollified, her posture relaxing just a bit. "I know we always push each other's buttons, B. Don't worry about it," she said.

"I umm... I didn't expect to see you so soon," said Buffy, trying to come across as relaxed and friendly.

Faith shrugged. "You know me I was getting antsy. Thought I'd check the place out. Place looks good. You've added a lot of things since I left," she said.

Buffy nodded, "The gym, the dorms, along with other boring things like the power supply and internet lines and stuff. We kept pretty busy the last couple of years."

There was a long and painfully awkward silence. Buffy was about to fill it with more small talk when Faith beat her to the punch.

"Look Buffy. I just wanted to check with you and make sure you're cool with me being here. I know G-man and the scoobs outvoted you on a few things. But just this one time you get to tell me if you want me and my people here or not. If you say Cleveland is too small for two Slayers I'll just pack up my peeps and go, no harm no foul. We were doing lots of good and I don't want to step on your toes." Faith kept her face a neutral mask not giving Buffy any clues about how she felt about the situation one way or the other.

For the second time in under a minute the blonde Slayer was rendered speechless once again. This is not at all what she had expected from her sister-Slayer.

"Do you want to be here Faith?" Buffy asked cautiously.

Faith made a vague nonchalant gesture, "That depends. If this got forced on you and you don't want me here this is never gonna to work. Giles more or less convinced me that I would be doing the most good here, but I'm not staying if you resent me being here. I'm not going to subject myself or my people to that kind of bullshit. So I guess it's up to you what's going to happen. Do you want me here blondie?"

"Yes," said Buffy almost immediately, "I do want you here Faith." The blonde Slayer surprised herself with how sure she sounded.

Faith looked at her curiously, face still studiously blank, "Are you sure B? 'Cuz once you say yes I won't be leaving in the future on your say-so. This is a one time offer. After this you won't have any control over me or mine and you'll have to live with whatever happens."

Buffy resisted the urge to sigh. This was the part she hated, the part where she wouldn't be in charge of Faith or anything she and her people did. But was that a good enough reason to tell them to leave? Buffy didn't think so. And though she hated the situation she knew that they did need help in the Hellmouth. If she turned them away she was almost sure she wouldn't be able to handle the whole of Cleveland alone.

Besides, part of her was still hopeful (but perhaps not overly optimistic) that she would be able to repair her frayed relationship with Faith and have some kind of real friendship with her. They had always been close in a way because of their shared calling and Slayer connection. It was just retarded how they had never been able to get past their differences and become friends even after all these years. Buffy really wanted to change all that. If they could only get past the fighting and the frequent desire to beat the hell out of each other.

Who knew maybe things would get better now that they were more equals and less leader/subordinate.

"Yes Faith, I want you to stay. I'm not gonna lie, I have some reservations about this but I'm glad you're here. And with how we left things last time... well I really don't want any of that happening again. No repeats of that whole mess. I'm hoping things will be better this time with us. Plus we really, _really_, need your help on the Hellmouth," she added sincerely.

Faith nodded and gave Buffy a big dimpled smile, "Hey, that's all you had to say twinkie. I'm all for trying to keep things all civil and professional and go from there. Me and my people will do more than our share of evil killing, don't you worry your little head about that," said Faith.

The silence returned and quickly turned painfully awkward. Even though they'd had a good first talk it was only the first step on a long road before things would ever be truly fine between them. Buffy was saved from making any more awkward conversation when Faith once again beat her to the punch.

"Have you guys heard any word about Angel?" asked Faith quietly.

Buffy cast her eyes downward and sadly shook her head. "No. No one's seen or heard anything since after the whole Black Thorn thing in L.A. as far as we know."

After the death of all the members of the Black Thorn Angel had disappeared during a demon incursion in Los Angeles. No one knew what had happened to him, the only thing they had been able to learn for sure from various mystics was that he had not been dusted that day in Los Angeles. He had simply vanished from the face of the Earth. The most popular theory was that he had been captured by Wolfram and Heart for revenge. It was not something either Slayer liked to think about.

"I should go. Get back to my people," said Faith.

"Sure. I'll see you tonight," said Buffy glad to have an end to the awkwardness between them.

As she was leaving Faith stopped in her tracks.

"By the way," Faith called over her shoulder, "I promised him I wouldn't ruin the moment but since we're trying to be all buddy-buddy again I figured I'd give you a heads up. You're going to get a big surprise tonight so try not to get your socks knocked off."

With that ambiguous comment Faith left leaving Buffy wondering what the hell the brunette Slayer was talking about.

000B&FvS000

**A/N:**

Next time on DBZ (errr I mean The Outsiders): Buffy and Spike reunite. The famous dinner party happens. Plus we finally get to meet the two other members of Faith's little group (hint: one is an OC to the Buffyverse and one is not).

Please be good neighbors and ReViEw! :D


	3. Say Hello

000B&FvS000

Night had just fallen and Buffy was walking from her house to the main building for their little 'get to know you' get together with Faith and her 'team'. It was then she felt the familiar tingle of a vampire nearby.

"Hello luv," came a familiar voice from the woods behind her.

Buffy froze, then quickly spun around while pulling a stake from her jeans pocket.

The bleached blonde vampire in a trench coat stepped out form behind the treeline and came into view. "Well you gonna stand there all day? I could use a hello kiss. Though if you don't mind I'd rather you put away that pointy bit of wood first."

Buffy's mouth opened and closed a few times with no words coming out. Finally she managed to get out, "Spike?"

"In the flesh sweets. Don't worry there is a real good explanation for thi-"

Buffy threw her stake and it sailed through the air like a bullet imbedding itself in Spike's shoulder.

Spike stumbled back in surprise and pain. "Bloody hell Buffy! What in God's name was that for?" he howled.

Buffy just stood there, with her mouth hanging open. "Oh my God. Spike?!"

Spike pulled the stake out of his shoulder with a wet squelching sound. "You already said that the first time. You've gone and ruined my coat. What's with the violence all of a sudden? I figured you'd be mad at me but I didn't picture you trying to dust me."

"I-I wasn't trying to dust you. I thought you might have been the First," Buffy said, still looking at Spike with incredulity and amazement.

"Well you could have just asked," said Spike grouchily taking a few steps towards Buffy. The Slayer matched his steps by walking backwards and away from the bleached vampire.

"How do I know that's even you? It's a hell of a lot more likely that you're some sort of shape changing demon," said Buffy. When she started to get angry after saying that Spike started to get a little alarmed.

"Whoa whoa there Buffy!" he said holding up his hands as he slowly approached her, "Look, I'm sorry I never let you know I was alive. My spirit or ghost or some such was trapped in that little bit of shiny we used on the Hellmouth. I'm still not entirely clear how I got brought back. But I swear I'm still me love, still one hundred percent Spike."

Buffy pulled a knife from somewhere and Spike wisely stopped advancing towards her.

"If that really is you, what are you doing here now Spike?" said Buffy, much more hostile now.

"I'm here with Faith. We hooked up a couple of years back and been together ever since," said Spike.

Buffy's jaw dropped open and her disbelief turned to anger, "You _hooked up_ with Faith?!" she yelled at him.

"What-? Oh bugger, that really came out wrong didn't it? I mean we've just been working together. No bumping uglies or anything on the side. Promise."

Buffy just crossed her arms and shot him an angry look that clearly said she didn't believe him.

Spike threw his head back in exasperation, "Come on luv, you've got it all wrong. Faith might go through lovers like cheap tissue paper but she has a some standards. For one she won't shag anything without a pulse."

"I'm supposed to believe that? From the one who told you she wanted to 'pop you like warm champaigne'?" asked Buffy.

"Crap, I never should have told you that story. Look that's just Faith, she'll flirt and hit on a tree stump if there's nothing else around. Besides, there's only one Slayer that I ever fell in love with."

That seemed to cool Buffy off a bit, bringing a small smile to her lips.

"Is that really you Spike?" she asked.

"It's me luv. Same as I've always been, least as far as I can tell."

Buffy hesitated, gaze dropping to her feet. "How long?" she asked.

"How long what?"

"How long have you been back?"

"I spend some time as a ghost stuck in Wolfram and Heart's building starting about nineteen days after Sunnydale."

Buffy looked at him incredulously, "You've been back for over three years and you never bothered to let me know you're alive? Not a phone call? Post card? Anything?"

Spike shifted uncomfortably. "It's not right but I had my reasons. I didn't really want you knowing when I was just a ghost. After I got my body back I found out you were dating some vampire bloke named The Immortal, I didn't want to try and get in the middle of that. Besides all that I liked you thinking of me as having died a heroic death. Kind of hard to top that in your eyes."

"Those are all bullshit excuses Spike. And I never dated The Immortal or whatever, I don't even know who that is."

"Yeah I know. About The Immortal I mean, Faith filled me in that it was a decoy of yours in Italy. And well is it so hard to believe that I'd be a little nervous about jumping right back into your life?"

Buffy tilted her head curiously. "Why would you be?"

Spike shrugged. "Don't know luv," he said, though his tone said more 'I don't want to talk about it' rather than 'I don't know'.

Buffy decided to let it go for now. She was mad as hell at him for hiding for three years, but happy enough to see him alive to stop her from beating answers out of him and just beating him in general. At least for the time being.

"So what now?" asks Buffy. A part of her wants to run and hug Spike. A part of her is conflicted. She knows she still has feelings for him. But what does this mean? Is he going to want them to be together, is that why he came back? Is that something she would want?

"Now luv, I think we have a little get together to get to. You can get Willow to do a spell or some such if you like, put to rest any lingering doubt if I'm me or what not."

Buffy nods, glad for the opportunity to dodge any of those complicated questions for now. They start walking slowly side by side towards the main building with a cautious distance between them.

"So why are you here?" she asks.

"Well, me and Faithy have a good thing going. Our little group is quite good at what we do. Didn't want to split the team up. Plus I have been hiding from you for too long, it was time to change that."

Buffy felt a bit of sadness and resentment that apparently Spike wouldn't be fighting at her side anymore. Yes they would be fighting for the same side but it seemed like Spike would be doing his own thing with Faith and the rest of their group. Suddenly Buffy felt left out, like Spike and Faith had gone off to form their own little clique and didn't invite her to play.

"Well, if it really is you Spike," she said, still going to wait for a spell to give the final word, "then I'm glad you're back," she said, offering him a small smile even though she was still unhappy with him.

Spike grinned back, "Thanks luv. It's good to be back."

000B&FvS000

Despite the awkwardness and slight unease everyone had been feeling about having Faith back along with three new strangers, Xander and the rest of the gang had loosened up and were having a good time. It was the first time they had gotten together to just try to relax and have a good time since the potentials had all lost their powers. They had all shown up at the main building early and had been keeping each other entertained.

Andrew and Dawn were slaving away good naturedly in the large kitchen while Xander, Giles, Kennedy and Willow were sitting around the large comfortable dining room table they had set up just next to the kitchen. They had been just sitting around for the last half hour, sipping alcohol and telling stories. It had felt like an eternity since Xander had felt such much comradeship and good feelings in their little group.

"Hey guys. How's it going? Glad to see you guys didn't forget how to loosen up since I've been gone," come Faith's voice from the door. All their heads snapped to her in attention. They hadn't noticed her come in.

"Sup Faith," said Kennedy with a smile. Xander and Kennedy moved to stand up, presumably to go greet Faith with a hug or a handshake. They both stopped when they noticed what was perched on her shoulder.

"Ugh, Faith," Xander said cautiously, "is that a cat on your shoulder or are you just happy to see us?"

Xander could have sworn the cat's head turned to him and gave him an appraising, disdainful look. The one eyed scooby blinked. Did that really just happen or was he imagining things?

Faith walked over to the table looking every bit amused by everyone's reaction. Everyone but Giles was looking at Faith with puzzled and questioning looks.

"It's good to see you again Faith," said Willow trying to sound chipper and upbeat, "who uh, who's your friend there?"

As soon as Faith come to stand next to the table the cat jumped down off her shoulder and sat down. The cat was averaged sized and completely black except for a tiny patch of white fur on it's chest. It's tail seemed just a little too long and the cat wrapped it casually around it's front. It sat with it's front legs perfectly straight and even, looking sort of regal and aristocratic like one of those statues of Egyptian cats.

"Everyone, this is Cass. A valuable member of my team," Faith said, seemingly unable to control the wide playful grin on her face.

Xander watched as the little cat seemed to look at them one by one taking a moment to examine each of their faces. When it's gaze settle on him he couldn't help but shiver a little under it's gaze.

"Ermm, yeah," said Xander skeptically, "so your cat. Does it talk?" he asked.

"I am not an 'it', you dull witted monkey," the cat said to him with it's too intelligent fixing squarely on his "you had better show a little respect."

Everyone's jaws dropped open at hearing the cat open it's mouth and speak. It's voice was deep and unmistakably male. He sounded like James Earl Jones if he had taken up smoking.

"Oh my God. It's a demon cat," said Kennedy with equal parts caution and curiosity.

"I've never met a talking cat before. Is he magical?" said Willow, sounding more excited and intrigued than cautious.

Giles just looked intently at the cat sitting regally on the table and taking his time examining each of them. "Yes, fascinating..." he muttered.

Xander however took an instant dislike to the little furball. He felt a little miffed that he – _it –_ has just insulted him and no one had jumped to his defense. Xander was so _not_ a dull witted monkey.

"So what does he do? Like, cough up hairballs on vampires or something?" said Xander just a little condescending.

Cass's long tail twitched in what Xander was pretty sure was a gesture of annoyance. Xander didn't know how but the cat gave him the distinct impression it was looking down it's nose at him when it turned to face him again. This made Xander even more irritated. How dare that little creep look at him all disdainful and superior-like?

"Reconnaissance, espionage, research, a bit of magic and the occasional act of sabotage. I also have a broad base of knowledge of the supernatural. What do _you_ bring to the table, crippled human boy?"

"Hey! I'm not crippled!" said Xander, his hand subconsciously going to his eyepatch.

"Oh my Goddess! You can do magic?" said Willow, eyes suddenly bright and twinkling with excitement.

Cass looked at her, seemingly surprised by her positive reception, "Why yes. I can't do major magics, but I can do small useful things. Tracking spells, obfuscating charms, that type of thing."

"Obfu what?" asked Kennedy.

"Obfuscating charms. It's basically where you can put a spell on something to make an object or area harder to see," explained Willow.

"So you are Willow Rosenberg?" said Cass, now looking at her curiously and intently, "You've become rather famous, or infamous, in the supernatural community. Many creatures want to kill you, especially after the many Slayer debacle." Though the words were kind of menacing, Cass made it sound like a grudging compliment.

Xander didn't take it as such. "No supernatural creep is going to be hurting Willow," said Xander hotly directing his displeasure at Cass. The cat looked at him sideways and then ignored him, twitching his tail in what Xander interpreted as a dismissive gesture. That cat's attitude was really starting to get on Xander's nerves.

"Oh relax Xander. I think Cass was just trying to say something nice, in his own way," said Willow reasonably, still looking at the cat with unabashed interest and glee.

"So Faith, what sort of creature is... Cass here? Is he a demon of some sort?" asked Giles cautiously directing his question at the Boston Slayer.

"Not really. Well, sort of. Cass explains it better than I do," said Faith.

Cass let out a long suffering sigh, like this was something he had to explain much too often, "I'm not a demon. You have human experts on the supernatural here correct? You lot usually classify me as a monster," said Cass in a voice that was both patient and condescending.

Giles's face clearly showed recognition as things started clicking into place. Everyone else looked confused.

"What, what is a monster? Aren't all demons monsters?" asked Kennedy.

"Yes well, perhaps there should be a better term, referring to them as 'monsters' is rather archaic. Essentially the demons we fight are all supernatural creatures invading from other dimensions. What were traditionally known as 'monsters' in the old days were supernatural creatures native to this dimension. There are relatively few of them, but they do exist," explained Giles.

"Are they evil? I mean most demons are evil. Does that mean most monsters are evil too?" asked Xander just a little too eagerly.

"No, no, 'monsters' or perhaps 'native supernaturals' would be a better term, are never evil as such. They can often be vicious or aggressive but since they are part of this world they are part of the natural order. They would never have any inclination or motivation to create genocide or destroy the world. They tend to be more like sharks or tigers. There is no doubt they can be dangerous but they are generally no more evil than any other natural predator in our world."

"Yeah. Cass can be a vicious little creep, but he doesn't have an evil bone in his body," said Faith teasingly, looking sideways at Cass.

"I hunt and I protect my pride, I don't see where good and evil factor into this," said Cass a little crossly.

"You protect your pride?" asked Giles curiously. It seemed people were quickly starting to get used to the idea of having a conversation with a talking cat. They all had a high tolerance for weird after so many years.

"Yes, pride. Family group. Like lions, you understand?" said Cass a little annoyed, like it should be the most self-evident thing in the world. Giles blinked like that. It was a surreal experience being chastised by what looked like a household pet.

"This is so cool. What kind of 'monster' is he?" asked Kennedy, directing her question at Faith.

"He's a Shadowcat. That's why he's so good at what he does," said Faith with a hint of pride in her voice.

"A Shadowcat? Yes I've read about those. But..." said Giles, looking at Cass with a puzzled look on his face, "but he's so small."

Cass's hackles went up and he hissed angrily at Giles, making everyone jump in surprise.

"He's been cursed," explained Faith quickly, "it's a real touchy subject for him so we don't talk about it. But that's why the little shrimp is pint sized."

Cass turned and hissed at unhappily at Faith too, though it was with a lot less intensity than when he'd hissed at Giles.

"I could still kill you all in your sleep," grumbled Cass unhappily.

This might have alarmed everyone if they hadn't seen Faith roll her eyes behind Cass. She gave them all a little smile as if to say not to take what Cass had just said too seriously.

"So um, what is a Shadowcat?" asked Willow.

"I bet he can walk through walls, can't he?" said Xander, drawing from his vast knowledge of comic book lore. Only Faith and Kennedy got the little joke and looked at him with looks that were both reproachful and amused.

"What? Kitty Pryde, Shadowcat? It's too good not to comment on," he insisted.

Everyone decided to ignore him and Faith spoke up, "I'm sure Giles can probably explain it better but Cass here, and I guess all Shadowcats, can jump into shadows and move through 'em. Something about all darkness being connected in an alternate dimension or something. He can basically disappear into any shadow dark enough, walk wherever he wants to and reappear from some other shadow."

"Oooh! That's why he said he's good and espionage and sabotage and all that stuff. He can travel through this 'shadow dimension' and sneak in and out of pretty much anywhere! That is so cool," said Willow excitedly. The way Willow kept looking at Cass made Xander think the redhead wanted to take him home and keep him.

"So he _can _walk through walls," Xander insisted.

"No Xander. He walks through shadows. He can't walk through a wall in a bright room. Weren't you listening?" said Kennedy.

"That is really amazing," continued to gush Willow as she thought about the implications, "your kind must have really powerful magic to be able to walk in and out of another dimension all willy nilly like that. It should really be impossible. You're like totally amazing Cass."

Cass seemed to be both embarrassed and preened a little at Willow's praise. "That's not all," the cat said, obviously liking Willow's attention, "if I'm away from the sun I can create a temporary dark space that allows me to slip into shadows. Plus I can store non magical items in the shadow space and retrieve them whenever I want. It's much more convenient than the clumsy furniture and shelving you primitive bipedal types like to use."

"Don't mind him," said Faith, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to where Cass was sitting on the table, "when he gets a little flustered he starts calling everyone names. It's kind of endearing once you get used to it."

000B&FvS000

From a distance the female figure observed her companions through a window. They were among potentially hostile entities; threats to her own. Despite assurances and pleasantries the female found that certain things remained the same even after millions of years. Power. Using others to dominate and accomplish your goals. Then killing those you thought too powerful or dangerous once their use was spent.

The ancient being understood few things about these humans, so complex even though they had only the lifespan of mayflies. But the ancient being was learning. There was one thing among the many she felt she had come to understand completely. Loyalty. She had even come to embrace the concept.

Loyalty was a pact to protect each other, fight for each other always no matter the odds or circumstances. It was in an ideal case eternal, unbroken and immutable. The female knew in some ways it could be seen as folly as she may be called upon to risk certain destruction for her loyalty. But others would do the same for her. One of the humans had already proven herself capable and willing to risk certain death to preserve the ancient being. That was the one known as Faith Lehane, a human more powerful than the rest by virtue of bonding to a lower demon. Well, lower in relation to the ancient one. But then all others were lower than that.

The half-breed and the native demon were included in her circle of 'loyalty' because it suited her. They were entertaining pets if nothing else, for differing reasons. The female understood her role. First and foremost to protect the ones who she stayed and fought with.

Before they had come to this place she had tasted the emotions rolling off the one she privately thought of as just 'Faith'. All of the emotions had tasted foul to her palate. Apprehension. Old pain. Anger. Resignation. Even fear. It reeked. It was disgusting. It troubled her to taste those emotions rolling off Faith for reasons she did not fully understand. That state of affairs simply would not do.

Loyalty demanded she protect Faith Lehane from those emotions. The easiest way to do that was simple; destroy everything and everyone responsible. The ancient one would protect Faith just as Faith had once protected her.

Still, the female was not foolish; she knew Faith would be displeased if she eliminated the ones who caused her pain. Especially this 'Buffy' insect she had heard spoken of so often before. Openly attacking these parasites who wanted to borrow their powers was not an option. Human interactions were hopelessly complicated, but the ancient one was learning.

The Old One would simply bide her time. Observe. Calculate. Reflect. Monitor the situation for changes in the condition of her comrades. Those who wished to use the power of her people would soon show their true colors. Then her foolish companions would complain less when she squashed all the insignificant insects who presumed to use them for their own ends. The female understood the game. This was all about who controlled the power.

The ancient one pondered the idiocy and contradiction of the weak human mind. How they protect those who hurt them as often as they choose to kill them. The Old One thought she was beginning to understand, but even with the help of the memories of her shell the logic of it all, if there was any, still eluded her.

There was one thing she understood however. Loyalty. She would watch and she would wait and when the time is right she would deal with those who hurt them.

Even diminished her power was simply unmatched by anyone here. Fighting and killing had been a way of life for her for millions of years. She would protect. She would kill. She was without equal.

She was Illyria, God-King of the Primordium who once ruled this entire plane with unmatched power and an iron fist. Faith and to a lesser extent her two other companions were the only things she had ever cared about. Woe to those who had wronged them and thought they would escape unscathed.

000B&FvS000

**A/N: **

Next time on the outsiders: The scoobs meet Illyria. Cass insults everyone. Plus the two teams start having friction already.

Please support starving artists everywhere and

ReViEw!

They walked together in silence for about a minute before she felt the urge to ask about something goofy that Spike had said.

"Would Faith really hit on a tree stump? I should tell your boss lady what you say about her" she said, teasing the vampire.

"Actually, that particular event did happen once," replied Spike smoothly.

Buffy raised her eyebrows at that. "Stop pulling my leg Spike. No way Faith would do something like that," she said thought maybe not sounding one hundred percent sure of herself.

"It's true. Granted she was drunk and hallucinating because of some demon's poison but she still did it. You should have seen the racy conversation she was having with that piece of wood and the way she kept batting her eyelashes and throwing out her tits. I would have absolutely killed to have a camera that night, I tell you that much."

For the first time in what seemed like a long time, Buffy had a full genuine laugh.


End file.
